Several new reports have been released painting a bleak picture of where Russia’s strategic nuclear forces are headed. Russia is not the only culprit here. The United States and Russia have now reach parity in terms of their deployed strategic nuclear forces- a number that remains over the agreed upon limit of the New Start treaty of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads. According to a recent State Department fact sheet the United States deploys 1,642 warheads (nuclear warheads on high-alert status) on 794 vehicles and Russia about 1,643 on 528 vehicles. The number for concern is the amount of deployed delivery vehicles, including ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), SLBMs (submarine-launched ballistic missiles), and heavy bombers. While Russia finds itself in line with the New Start Treaty by having fewer than 700, the fact that the country deploys the same number of warheads on significantly fewer vehicles indicates that the Russian strategic nuclear forces are more advanced that the United States and that Russia has been rapidly advancing its weapon delivery systems.

Source: FAS

The New Start Treaty, signed by Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, entered into force on February 5, 2011. Comparing State Department data released in September 2013, March 2014, and September 2014, it is clear that neither country seems to be completely dedicated to the agreed upon treaty goal of bi-lateral disarmament. By 2013 Russia had gone well below the threshold of allowable deployed warheads with 1,400 deployed. By early 2014 the United States hovered right over the threshold with 1,585 deployed warheads. However, since March both countries have increased the number of deployed warheads. Russia now has more warheads deployed than prior to the signing of the New Start Treaty! Within the context of the current tensions between Russia and the United States this bi-lateral increase in strategic nuclear forces echoes the Cold War. How do we get out of this Cold War style framework and begin true progress towards bi-lateral disarmament?Harmony ToddPNA Fellow